Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 7. Session A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 218

Curls - 95X7 @10

Bench - 

215X1 @6

167.5X13 @8

Machine Flyes - X11@10

Deadlift -

405X1 @7

320X10 @8 (grip)

SSB Pause Squat -

210X9 @7

250X4 @6.5

300X1 @6.5

95 lbs. is a 1 Rep PR on Curls, and I did 7.  Sets of 95X10 across is a near term goal for me on this movement, so I decided to do a rep test here in the last week.  With this performance, this block seems to have out-performed the previous Tier 2, or "second best," block.  That previous Tier 2 is what my next block of Curl training is based on.  Will be interesting to see how they compare!

167.5X13 is a Rep PR on Bench.  I wish I hadn't skipped the back-off set last week, or I might have gotten two of these in a row.  I think this is my first Bench Rep PR (vs. Volume PR) on Bench in over a year.  Even though it was a secondary lift this block, it's worth nothing that the prior two blocks had Bench as a focus.

320X10 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.  Rated is @8 RPE because the bar was starting to come out of my left hand at the end.  Top single was a little harder than last week.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the SSB Pause Squats here in the last week, so I ended up working up in "big" increments.  Bar+1.25pps, bar+2pps, bar+2.25pps.  Interesting that it kind of got easier as I went up, and projects as an almost 50# increase over last week's e1RM.  Maybe it's just easier to do low reps at the end of a session.

At a bit of a minor programming "crisis" as I realize that the e1RM on my back-off sets of Bench is drastically higher than the e1RM of the top single.  PL programming would say to track off the single, and that's what I've always done.  For PL, that makes sense because it "keeps the goal the goal," but my goals are progress in a much wider variety of rep ranges.  Only tracking off of the lowest rep sets is the more conservative approach for sure.  More likely to undershoot vs. overshoot block-over-block targets in all rep ranges.  But it might also mask the actual progress being made in a block.  

For Bench this block, the back-off set had the higher RPE, and more closely mirrored the rep range of the Flyes, the accessory chosen specifically for bench.  So would it be more accurate to say I was training the higher rep range on bench this block, and if so, shouldn't I track e1RM off of that?  I think I should.  The downside is that it will likely over-project my  low-rep strength to start the next block, and I'll have to auto-regulate the weight down.  Not really that big of a deal as long as I'm conscious of it, and don't think something is "wrong."

I wrote out some new guidelines around this for future programming: 

    What rep range is getting "more" trained on the secondary and tertiary movement (higher RPE, more sets, more similar to accessory)?  Track e1RM for that range, BUT LOOK BACK at end of block and see which progressed more and base off of that.  Be prepared to have to auto-regulate projected performance in less similar rep ranges up or down at the start of the next block.